Revisiting the Naked, Tattooed Woman Found in Times Square
by FriendLey
Summary: Reporter Eric Shuman, on his latest piece of journalism, gives us answers to the questions that arose from the appearance of the naked, tattooed woman discovered in Times Square two years ago. He recounts to us an unbelievable story about the one of the key persons behind the downfall of the domestic terrorist organization known as Sandstorm.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Blindspot or any of its characters found in this story. What is written here is for entertainment purposes only. No infringement is intended and this story is not for profit.**

 **A/N: Certain things in this story are not canon.**

 _" **Naked, Tattooed Woman Found in Times Square"**_

 **New York—** A naked woman covered in tattoos crawled out of a bag in Times Square late yesterday evening.

An unclaimed duffel bag was discovered in the street by a local police officer who immediately reported it to the FBI. Minutes later, the FBI and Bomb Disposal Units approached and managed the situation.

The bag, did not in fact contain any explosives, but rather a naked woman whose body was entirely covered in tattoos. An official statement from the FBI revealed the woman to have no memory of her identity.

"The FBI is still in the process of finding any of Jane Doe's relatives or acquaintances," said Media Liaison Kelly Rowans. "Her photo has been released to the public in the hopes that someone may come forward with information." Rowans declined to comment on the nature of the woman's tattoos.

 ** _"Revisiting the Naked, Tattooed Woman Found in Times Square"_ by Eric Shuman**

Everyone remembers the headlines that graced every newspaper on the morning of September 22, 2015—"Naked Tattooed Woman Crawls Out of Bag in Times Square."

There were many questions about the woman—there still are. Who is she? What's her story? What was she doing inside that bag? Who put her there?

Next thing we know, the woman is seen running around with the FBI. Fast forward to two days ago when she was among the guests at the White House who received a medal of recognition from the President for undying service to the United States of America and exposing corruption in certain levels of government.

So, who is she? How did she go from "naked, tattooed woman" to "a patriot?"

The official story released to the public was that she was an amnesiac, for all intents and purposes a Jane Doe. I know what you're thinking: this is like one of those Jason Bourne movies.

Well, I'm here to tell you that this is not a story of a dedicated intelligence operative running away from his former agency hell bent on killing him. Instead, it's a story of nature versus nurture, of justice, of atonement, and most of all… of finding oneself.

When I was given the rare and special opportunity to interview our mysterious subject, I prepared my questions like any good reporter would. However, upon meeting her, I realized just how much my queries were lacking.

No amount of prepared questions would suffice, for our subject herself is one big question mark.

Like every other unidentified female in the United States, she goes by the name of Jane Doe. She was born in Times Square, on the evening of September 21st, 2015.

"What did you feel upon stepping out of that bag?" I asked her and she replied with "Everything and nothing."

Ms. Doe explains that her senses were so overwhelmed with all that she saw, with light, with sound. "I was confused. Why was I inside a bag? Why was I naked? Why couldn't I remember who I was? I was scared and cold. I couldn't understand why my body hurt and why I was being arrested."

Her round green eyes darted to the only other person in the room with us: Assistant Director Kurt Weller who was present to ensure I didn't pry too deep and Ms. Doe didn't reveal classified information.

"Kurt, Agent Weller, explained everything to me," said Ms. Doe. "I was drugged, someone erased my memories, and put all these tattoos on me. And after I got over the initial shock, I fueled everything I felt towards one thing: finding answers."

"And did you find these answers?" I asked.

"Yes and no" was her reply.

"Yes because, you see, my body is a puzzle, not figuratively but literally. I am covered in tattoos that mean something, that point to certain things: towards corruption, towards injustice."

At that moment, I allowed myself to study Ms. Doe properly. Even with clothes on, I was able to see the myriad of ink on her skin. There was an image of a bird on her neck, a tattoo that peeked out from the neckline of her shirt, honeycomb patterns on the back of her hand, and various designs on her arms that disappeared up her sleeves. There was undoubtedly more underneath her clothes and each and every one of them held a significance.

Ms. Doe continued, "As I began to recover… certain memories, I found out that I had drugged myself, I put myself under memory loss. I basically did all of this to myself because I was part of the terrorist organization known as Sandstorm and my mother was its leader. Yes, my family members were the highest ranking people in Sandstorm. They sent me to gain the trust of the FBI and to expose everything that was wrong with the system at any cost to myself or others."

Like I said: this isn't the story of an intelligence operative running away from his agency hell bent on killing him. This is much, much worse.

"So, yes. I did find some answers, answers I didn't necessarily like. But there are still things about me that remain a mystery like what sport I'm good at or what genre of music I enjoy. I still haven't discovered everything there is to know about me and I guess that's what makes me human. I'm beginning to accept who I am and just live my life and relearn things about myself."

When asked about what went through her mind when she discovered the ugly truth, she admitted that she felt doubt and guilt.

"At first I was in denial. I couldn't believe it or I didn't want to. But my memories don't lie and from denial I moved on to guilt. It didn't matter to me if I couldn't remember what I did or if I no longer share the same extremist sentiments. I did terrible things and I was a terrible person. No amount of good that I do can erase that past."

"That's not true," interjected Assistant Director Weller, speaking for the first time. With his head shaking, he said, "What Jane isn't telling you is that despite her history, her first instinct ever since she woke up at Times Square was to protect people, to save them. Why do you think the FBI ever let her be a consultant? She has proven herself in the field, saved my life and that of my team's countless of times. It is her inherent goodness that allowed her to fight against her own family and successfully bring them down."

Ms. Doe gave me an amused grin at Agent Weller's impassioned speech. Then, she urged her superior to let her finish. "What Agent Weller said is true. But that doesn't displace the doubts that I feel about myself. What if I am still a danger to others? What if one day I wake up and I remember _everything_ and change for the worst? What if my terrorist training is so ingrained that I can't fight it?" She let out a big breath and said, "Sometimes, I'm grateful that I had my memory erased, that I was able to start over. And if my time with the FBI has taught me anything, it's that we can make _new_ choices. We can rise above our mistakes. We can be better. Of course, I have to remind myself of that everyday."

"Two days ago, you along with members of your team, were recognized by the President for the missions you went on, some of which are classified but a few have been made known to the public. Do you feel that you deserved that medal?" I addressed the same question to Assistant Director Weller.

Ms. Doe shook her head. "I can't speak for Agent Weller but I think that that medal stands more as a reminder than anything else. It reminds me of everything and everyone we lost in the fight, of all we sacrificed, of the price of justice." Agent Weller nodded his agreement and Ms. Doe continued, "But most importantly it reminds me of who I _chose_ to be when I was given a second chance and not to squander this second chance."

It is notable that despite being given the opportunity to create a new identity for herself, Ms. Doe revealed that she chose not to change her appointed name.

"I can't find myself going as anything else other than Jane Doe. We were all given this life. We didn't choose it. We didn't choose our names when we were born. We didn't choose our parents. But we _can_ choose what we make of ourselves and of our lives. And I choose this life: a life of atonement, a life of service—a life of justice. This is who I am."

There you have it.

This isn't a story of Jason Bourne.

This isn't a story of an amnesiac intelligence operative working hard to take down his former agency.

This isn't a movie. This is real life… And this is the story of Jane Doe. How much of it you want to believe is up to you.

 **A/N: Obviously, a naked woman showing up in Times Square would make headlines and prompt a lot of questions—endless questions from the media who have eyes like a hawk and would not overlook the presence of the same naked woman at my fictional White House event. At the same time, Kurt is a private person who would protect Jane from such scrutiny. However, the only way to stop all the inquiries would be to have Jane speak out and control the narrative. Thus, I wrote this story. Tell me what you think!**


End file.
